 |
Native Plants for Georgia |
Characteristics: Red Maple is a deciduous tree with medium texture, medium growth rate and an oblong to oval form. It is widely used in landscaping because it has good site tolerance. The bark is smooth and light gray. Clusters of small, red flowers appear in February and are followed by winged fruit in March. Fall color is variable yellow to red.
Landscape Uses: Use Red Maple as a shade tree in moist soils and full sun. It will adapt to hot, dry locations when irrigated. Red Maple is easy to transplant and tolerates wet soils. Surface roots are common as the plant ages.
Size: 40 to 50 feet tall with a spread of 24 to 35 feet
Zones: 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Low-lying areas and swamps, always in association with water.
Native To: Canada to the middle of the Florida peninsula and west to Minnesota, Oklahoma and Texas.
Comments: Because this tree has such a wide growing range, its origin is very important. In other words, don't plant a Red Maple from New England in Georgia; it may not adapt to the South's heat and humidity. Some cultivars have been over-used and are subject to diseases.
 Photo: Wendy VanDyk Evans, Bugwood.org |
||
 Photo: Gary Wade |
- |  Photo: Wendy VanDyk Evans, Bugwood.org |
| - | ||
 Photo: Hugh & Carol Nourse |
 Photo: Chris Evans, Bugwood.org |
|
Characteristics: Sugar Maple is a deciduous tree having a medium texture, medium to slow growth rate, and an upright to oval form. It is best known for its brilliant yellow to orange to red fall color.
Landscape Uses: Sugar Maple makes a fine specimen, street or shade tree. It needs moist, well-drained, loamy soils and does not tolerate hot, dry sites. It produces dense shade, which may be a problem for sun-loving plants grown beneath its canopy.
Size: 60 to 80 feet tall with a spread of 25 to 40 feet
Zones: 6b, 7a, 7b
Habitat: Moist, well-drained soils of the north Georgia mountains; found occasionally in the upper Piedmont on fertile north slopes
Native To: Eastern Canada to Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas
Comments: No other native tree matches the brilliant yellow, orange and red coloration of Sugar Maple in autumn.
 Photo: Ed McDowell |
 Photo: Gary Wade |
| - | |
 Photo: Ed McDowell |
Characteristics: Yellow Buckeye is a large tree with an upright to slightly-spreading crown. The compound palmate leaves are dark green above, yellow-green and pubescent beneath in youth and smooth at maturity. The flowers are yellow tinged with green, borne in erect panicles, six to seven inches long by two to three inches wide from middle to late April. The bark is gray and smooth in youth, becoming scaly or having large gray to brown plates on older trunks.
Landscape Uses: Yellow Buckeye is a beautiful, fast-growing tree when properly grown. It can be used as a specimen tree since it provides good shade as well as ornamental flowers. It prefers deep, moist, well-drained soils and needs plenty of moisture for optimum growth. Yellow Buckeye is mainly found in extreme north Georgia, but it does occur in a few Piedmont counties. Sosebee Cove Scenic Area near Blairsville, Ga., has several wonderful specimens.
Size: 60 feet high, with a spread of 30 feet
Zones: 7a, 7b
Habitat: Yellow Buckeye attains its largest size in rich Appalachian soils in coves and in cool slope forests.
Native To: Pennsylvania, west to Ohio and Illinois, south to Tennessee, northern Alabama and northern Georgia
 Photo: Chris Evans, Bugwood.org |
 Photo: William M. Ciesla, Bugwood.org |
Characteristics: River Birch is a deciduous tree having medium texture and a fast growth rate. In youth, it tends to have an oval shape with somewhat drooping branches and is often multi-stemmed. Young trees have a handsome, exfoliating, reddish-brown bark that ages to a dark gray-brown color.
Landscape Uses: Use River Birch as a shade or specimen tree, particularly in groupings. It looks particularly nice as a multi-stemmed form. A very rapid grower, it is one of the most popular trees for Georgia conditions, adaptable to most landscape sites. It requires adequate moisture during dry weather and prefers acid soils. Iron chlorosis may be a problem in high pH soils. Leaves are occasionally deformed by infestations of aphids. The tree is also affected by webworms.
Size: 40 to 80 feet tall, with a width of 40 to 65 feet
Zones: 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Moist, well-drained soils along riverbanks and streams, swamps and flood plains
Native To: Massachusetts to Florida, west to Minnesota and Kansas
Comments: Several cultivars are available. It is an early-succession tree, needing sun for establishment.
 Photo: Ed McDowell |
- |  Photo: Chris Evans, Bugwood.org |
| - | ||
 Photo: Hugh & Carol Nourse |
 Photo: Ed McDowell |
|
Hickories in this publication are treated as a group rather than individually because of their limited use in home landscapes. Property owners should recognize their beauty and value their presence in naturalized areas. Although extremely beautiful and valuable to wildlife, hickories develop a deep taproot and are difficult to transplant. Only recently has the nursery industry developed pots that enable hickories to be grown from seed, which will make them more widely available in the future.
Characteristics: Hickories are large, deciduous trees, 60 feet or more tall, with alternate, pinnately compound leaves.
Pignut — Leaves are eight to 12 inches long with five to seven leaflets. The terminal leaflet is the largest. Both sides of the leaflets are smooth. Bark on young trees is smooth, eventually developing braided ridges.
Shagbark — Leaves are eight to 14 inches long with five leaflets, sometimes seven. The upper surface is smooth, but the lower surface is pubescent. Bark is gray to brownish, exfoliating with age into narrow plates that are detached at both ends.
Mockernut — Leaves are eight to 15 inches long with five to seven leaflets. The lower leaf surface is densely pubescent and glandular. Leaves are aromatic when bruised. Bark is dark gray with shallow furrows in youth, becoming deeply furrowed with distinct interlacing ridges with age. On older trees, the bark develops a diamond-like or "expanded metal" pattern.
Landscape Uses: The fall color of all hickories is glowing, luminescent yellow. No other tree matches the brilliant color in the late October to November landscape. All have excellent wood for timber, and their nuts are coveted by wildlife.
 |
Photo: Gary Wade |
Size: 60 to 80 feet tall, with a sparse branching habit.
Zones: 6b (Carya glabra and Carya tomentosa), 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat:
Pignut is common on upland sites in association with oaks and other hickories.
Shagbark grows best on moist alluvial river and valley soils and on adjacent slopes and ridges.
Mockernut is the most common hickory in Georgia, and is found in upland forests.
Native To:
Pignut — Maine to Ontario, south to Florida and west to Louisiana
Shagbark — Quebec to Minnesota, south to Georgia and west to Texas
Mockernut — Massachusetts to Ontario and Nebraska, south to Florida and west to Texas
Comments: Hickories have a taproot that penetrates downward two to three feet the first season, while top growth is just a few inches. They work to establish their root systems for several years before putting on top growth. They are excellent wildlife resources. Seedlings are tolerant of shade and can remain in the shrub layer for years, waiting for a "gap" that provides light.
 Photo: Gary Wade |
- |  Photo: Gary Wade |
| - | ||
 Photo: Gary Wade |
Carya glabra/Pignut Hickory | |
|
- |  Photo: Paul Wray, Bugwood.org |
| - | - | |
 Photo: Paul Wray, Bugwood.org |
||
| Carya ovata/Shagbark Hickory | ||
 Photo: Gary Wade |
- |  Photo: Gary Wade |
| - | ||
 Photo: Gary Wade |
- |  Photo: Gary Wade |
| - | ||
 Photo: Gary Wade |
Carya tomentosa/ Mockernut Hickory |
|
Characteristics: Sugarberry is a deciduous tree with medium texture, medium growth rate and a broad oval to rounded form. Leaves are dark green above and pale green below. They are alternate, oblong and lance-shaped, and are two to four inches long and 1¼ inches wide. The trunk is light gray and smooth, with prominent corky, somewhat warty, ridges. Fruit are brownish-red, about 1/3 inch in diameter. They ripen from September to October.
Landscape Uses: Sugarberry is a long-lived shade tree. It grows best in moist soils in full sun.
Size: 60 to 80 feet tall and 23 to 35 feet wide
Zones: 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Moist soils on river flood plains and in alluvial forests, predominately in the lower Piedmont and the Coastal Plain
Native To: Southern Indiana and Illinois, south to Texas and Florida
Comments: It is the larval host of the hackberry emperor butterfly and is a food source for fall migrating birds.
 Photo: Chris Evans, Bugwood.org |
- |  Photo: Gary Wade |
| - | ||
 Photo: Gary Wade |
 Photo: Chris Evans, Bugwood.org |
|
Characteristics: American Yellowwood is a medium-size, deciduous, flowering tree, bearing panicles of fragrant, white, pea-like flowers in late spring that cascade from the ends of the branches. It is spectacular in bloom, but a young tree may not bloom until it is five to eight years old. Mature trees tend to be alternate bearing, with good flowering one year, then few to no flowers the next year. Flowers are followed by brown pods, two to four inches long, each containing four to six flat, hard-coated seeds. Leaves are pinnately compound, each with nine to 11 leaflets. Fall color is golden yellow. The tree gets its name from the color of its heartwood, which is bright yellow.
Landscape Uses: A wonderful specimen tree for the landscape. Breathtaking in bloom.
Size: 30 to 50 feet tall and 30 feet wide at maturity
Zones: 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a
Habitat: Rich soils on hill slopes or along ravines near streams. It prefers a more basic soil.
Native To: North Carolina to Tennessee and Kentucky, south to Georgia and west to Oklahoma
Comments: A 1999 Georgia Gold Medal Winner.
 Photo: Gary Wade |
-- |  Photo: Gary Wade |
| - | ||
 Photo: Gary Wade |
 Photo: Gary Wade |
|
Characteristics: American Beech is a deciduous tree with medium texture and medium to slow growth rate. It has smooth, bluish-gray bark and golden bronze fall color. Dead leaves persist on the tree throughout the winter. Fruit, called beech nuts, are yellowish-brown, unevenly triangular and enclosed in a spiny bur less than one inch long. Fruit production tends to be heavy every two to three years.
Landscape Uses: Use American Beech as a shade or specimen tree. It prefers moist, acidic, well-drained soils and full sun to partial shade. It is shallow-rooted and not for dry sites.
Size: 50 to 80 feet tall with a canopy width of 40 to 60 feet
Zones: 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Moist, rich soils of uplands and well-drained lowlands; eastern United States
Native To: New Brunswick to Ontario, south to Florida and west to Texas
Comments: American Beech produces deep shade that discourages other plants from growing under its canopy.
 Photo: Hugh & Carol Nourse |
- |  Photo: Hugh & Carol Nourse |
| - | ||
 Photo: Gary Wade |
 Photo: Gary Wade |
|
Characteristics: White Ash is a large, handsome, deciduous tree with medium to coarse texture and medium growth rate. It is dioecious (having male and female flowers borne on separate trees). Flowers are borne in panicles before the leaves emerge in April. Leaves are opposite, pinnately compound, eight to 15 inches long with five to nine leaflets (usually seven). The leaves have a drooping quality and are dark green above and light green below. The bark is ashy-gray to gray-brown with interlacing diamond-shaped ridges. Fall color ranges from yellow to deep purple or maroon.
Landscape Uses: Use White Ash as a specimen or street tree for large areas. It maintains a central leader in youth with an even distribution of branches. It transplants easily and prefers moist, well-drained soils and full sun.
Size: 50 to 80 feet tall, with a similar spread
Zone: 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Deep, moist, well-drained forest soils. It does not like harsh conditions.
Native To: Nova Scotia to Minnesota, south to Florida and west to Texas
Comments: White Ash is subject to several pests and diseases. It is difficult to distinguish from Green Ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica).
 Photo: Gary Wade |
- |  Photo: Gary Wade |
| - | ||
 Photo: Gary Wade |
Characteristics: Green Ash is a deciduous, fast-growing tree with an upright, spreading habit. It is dioecious (having male and female flowers borne on separate trees). It develops three to five main branches and many coarse, twiggy branchlets that bend downward and then up at the ends. Leaves are opposite, pinnately compound and 12 inches long with five to nine leaflets. They are lustrous dark green above and pubescent underneath. The yellow fall color is inconsistent, especially on seed-grown plants.
Landscape Uses: Green Ash is a popular shade tree because it transplants readily and grows in a wide variety of soils and site conditions. It is subject to a variety of insect and disease problems.
Size: 50 to 60 feet tall and 25 to 30 feet wide
Zones: 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Flood plains, wetlands and stream banks
Native To: Nova Scotia to Manitoba, south to northern Florida and west to Texas
Comments: Cultivars are available. Green Ash and White Ash (Fraxinus americana) look identical except for their seeds. The White Ash's samara wing extends less than halfway down the cylindrical fruiting body, and Green Ash's samara wing extends halfway or more down the cylindrical fruiting body. Green Ash is an early succession tree and needs sun to become established.
 Photo: Gary Wade |
- |  Photo: Gary Wade |
| - | ||
 Photo: Gary Wade |
Characteristics: American Holly is a broadleaf evergreen tree with medium-coarse texture and a moderate growth rate. Distinctly pyramidal when young, it becomes more open and irregular with age. Leaves are alternate, evergreen, 1½ to four inches long and half as wide, with spiny teeth along their margins. Bright red fruit persist throughout winter and are eaten by birds. Native seedlings are appropriate for restoration projects.
Landscape Uses: Use American Holly for screening or as a specimen tree. It prefers deep, fertile soils with adequate moisture and partial shade. It will adapt to full sun.
Size: 20 to 50 feet tall and 15 to 30 feet wide
Zones: 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Grows on moist sites, flood plains and lower slopes. It can be found in mixed hardwood forests and occasionally on dry, sandy sites in south Georgia.
Native To: Massachusetts to Florida and west to Missouri and Texas
Comments: The foliage is traditionally cut (along with berries) for Christmas decorations; it is sometimes used as an outdoor Christmas tree. Fruit are enjoyed by cedar waxwings, cardinals and other birds. Fruit are borne on female trees only (male and female trees are separate).
 Photo: Gary Wade |
- |  Photo: Gary Wade |
| - | ||
 Photo: Gary Wade |
 Photo: Gary Wade |
|
Characteristics: Black Walnut is a large tree with a fine texture and loose, open form. It often develops a trunk that is devoid of branches for several feet from the ground. Its wood is valuable for furniture and veneers because of its beautiful grain. Leaves are alternate, pinnately compound, 12 to 24 inches long, with 15 to 23 leaflets. The terminal leaflet is often missing. Fruit are hard nuts encased in a green husk.
Landscape Uses: Black Walnut is a fine shade tree for streambanks and flood plains. It prefers moist soils. Avoid planting it next to parking lots because falling fruit can dent vehicles.
Size: 75 to 100 feet tall with a canopy width of 50 to 75 feet
Zones: 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Moist, well-drained soils in the wild. It was often planted around old home sites.
Native To: Massachusetts to Florida, and west to Minnesota and Texas
Comments: Black Walnut produces the chemical juglone in its roots and leaves, which kills or inhibits growth of other plants nearby. It is a high-value wildlife tree.
 Photo: Steve Sanchez |
- |  Photo: Gary Wade |
| - | ||
 Photo: Gary Wade |
 Photo: Gary Wade |
|
Characteristics: Eastern Red Cedar is an aromatic evergreen tree with a conical to columnar shaped crown. It has a medium growth rate and texture. Handsome grayish- to reddish-brown bark exfoliates into long strips. Leaves are scale-like, closely pressed and overlapping. Summer color is medium green and winter color is dull green. There are male and female trees.
Landscape Uses: Eastern Red Cedar is an excellent specimen tree. It also is useful for windbreaks, hedges, shelter belts and topiary. It is tolerant of adverse conditions and poor soils as well as a wide range in pH. It prefers a sunny location and moist loam on well-drained subsoil. It is not shade tolerant and does not like growing under a heavy overstory.
Size: 40 to 50 feet tall and 8 to 20 feet wide. Size is extremely variable over its extensive native range.
Zones: 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Dry, upland, rocky soils, particularly calcareous soils. It also is found on moist flood plains, edges of swamps, in abandoned fields and along fence rows.
Native To: East and central North America, east of the Rocky Mountains
Comments: Many cultivars have been selected for ornamental use in residential and commercial landscapes. The mature berry-like cones are eaten by many kinds of mammals and birds, including the cedar waxwing. It provides refuge and cover for birds in inclement winter weather. Majestic specimens are found in old cemeteries.
 Photo: Gary Wade |
- |  Photo: Gary Wade |
| - | ||
 Photo: USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database |
 Photo: USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org |
|
| - | ||
 Photo: USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org |
||
Characteristics: Sweetgum is a deciduous tree with a medium texture and a medium to fast growth rate. Form is oval to pyramidal when young, developing into a broad-headed tree with age. Fall color ranges from yellow to orange or purple. Leaves have five to seven star-shaped lobes and are a lustrous green in summer. The foliage is aromatic when crushed. Fruit are round, spiny balls on two- to three-inch pedicels.
Landscape Uses: Use Sweetgum as a shade or specimen tree. It is fast-growing and moderately easy to establish, especially when young. The spiny fruit can present a maintenance problem. It prefers moist, rich, acid soils and has moderate drought tolerance.
Size: 80 to 100 feet tall with a spread of 40 to 50 feet
Zones: 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Flood plains on moist soils of valleys and lower slopes
Native To: Connecticut to Illinois, south to Florida and west to Texas
Comments: Sweetgum is an early succession plant. It is a prolific seeder and quickly invades cut-over hardwood stands and pine plantations on upland sites. It also sprouts profusely from stumps and lateral roots. Birds like the seeds.
 Photo: Gary Wade |
- |  Photo: Gary Wade |
| - | ||
 Photo: Gary Wade |
 Photo: Ed McDowell |
|
| - | ||
 Photo: Gary Wade |
||
Characteristics: Tulip Poplar, also called Yellow Poplar, is a deciduous tree with coarse texture and a medium to fast growth rate. It is pyramidal in form when young, becoming oval-rounded with age. It has a fleshy root system characteristic of the magnolia family. Leaves are tulip-shaped with four lobes. Fragrant orange-yellow tulip-like flowers appear from April to May.
Landscape Uses: Tulip Poplar is a fast-growing shade or specimen tree. It prefers moist, well-drained soils and full sun. Avoid planting it in open, exposed sites and dry soils. Allow plenty of room for development.
Size: 80 to 100 feet tall and 30 to 40 feet wide
Zones: 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Moist, well-drained soils
Native To: Massachusetts to Wisconsin, south to Florida and west to Mississippi
Comments: Tulip Poplar is an early seccession tree and is intolerant of shade. It needs full sun to become established and grow well. It is a good wildlife tree.
 Photo: Gary Wade |
||
| - | ||
 Photo: Chris Evans, Bugwood.org |
- |  Photo: Gary Wade |
Characteristics: Southern Magnolia is a broadleaf evergreen flowering tree with coarse texture and a medium to slow growth rate. It is pyramidal when young, then develops an oval shape at maturity. Foliage is dark green and glossy. Large, fragrant, showy white flowers appear in early summer. Fruit consist of cone-like aggregates of follicles from which bright red, shiny seeds are suspended by slender elastic threads.
Landscape Uses: Use Southern Magnolia as a specimen plant or for screening. Plant it in moist soils and full sun or light shade. It does not tolerate hot, dry sites. Branches are best left on ground level because of the leaf litter problem and the fleshy surface root system.
Size: 60 to 80 feet tall with a canopy spread of 40 to 50 feet
Zones: 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Moist hardwood forests and wet swampy areas in the Coastal Plain
Native To: North Carolina to Florida, west to Arkansas and Texas
Comments: Many cultivars are available. Seeds are relished by birds and other wildlife. Suckers may need to be pruned from root or branch sprouts.
 Photo: Gary Wade |
- |  Photo: Gary Wade |
| - | ||
 Photo: Gary Wade |
 Photo: Gary Wade |
|
Characteristics: Black Gum, or Tupelo, is a deciduous tree having medium texture and a medium growth rate. Form is narrow upright, pyramidal, with strong horizontal branching. It is dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate trees. Female trees bear tiny, greenish-yellow flowers during leaf development in April or May. Fruit appear only on female trees and are bluish-black drupes about ½ inch long, borne two to three per stalk.
Landscape Uses: Grow Black Gum as a specimen tree. It is difficult to transplant and is best planted from a container-grown plant. It prefers moist, fertile soils but adapts to a wide range of conditions. Leaves color early in the fall and are showy crimson-red.
Size: 70 to 80 feet tall and 40 to 50 feet wide
Zones: 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Moist soils of valleys and uplands in hardwood and pine forests
Native To: Maine to Michigan, south to Florida and west to Texas
Comments: This beautiful tree is becoming more available in the nursery trade. Another species, Swamp Tupelo (Nyssa biflora), is commonly found in south Georgia. Wildlife relish the seeds.
 Photo: Steve Sanchez |
- |  Photo: Steve Sanchez |
| - | ||
 CE.jpg) Photo: Chris Evans, Bugwood.org |
||
Characteristics: Shortleaf Pine is a fast-growing, medium to tall tree. It is pyramidal in youth, developing a long, clear trunk with a small, open pyramidal crown as it ages. The dark bluish-green needles are three to five inches long in fascicles (bundles) of two or three, sometimes on the same tree. Shortleaf Pine bark is nearly black when trees are young, aging to reddish-brown with many small resin pockets scattered through its corky layers.
Landscape Uses: Shortleaf Pine has a huge taproot and is harder to transplant than other pines.
Size: 80 to 100 feet tall, but more likely 50 to 60 feet under most landscape conditions
Zones: 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Open upland areas including grassy or abandoned agricultural land
Native To: Central New Jersey west to southern Missouri, south to Texas and into Northern Florida. Absent from the upper slopes of the Appalachian Mountains.
Comments: It is one of the most abundant pines in Georgia, second only to Loblolly. Shortleaf is subject to pinebark beetles and pine-tip moths, as are most pine species, as well as to littleleaf disease. The fruit is a prickly cone 1½ to 2½ inches long.
 Photo: Chris Evans, Bugwood.org |
- |  Photo: Chris Evans, Bugwood.org |
| - | ||
 Photo: Chris Evans, Bugwood.org |
||
Characteristics: Slash Pine is a large tree often planted as an ornamental because it grows fast and has dense lustrous-green foliage. Foliage consists of two and three needles arranged in fascicles (bundles). Loblolly and Longleaf Pine, in contrast, both have three needles per fascicle.
Landscape Uses: Use Slash Pine as a specimen tree or for windbreaks or screening. Its heavy needle crop and brittle branches make it susceptible to ice damage when planted outside the Coastal Plain. It prefers full sun and moist soils.
Size: 60 to 100 feet tall and 20 to 40 feet wide
Zones: 8a, 8b
Habitat: Moist to wet, sandy, poorly-drained soils bordering shallow ponds and swamps. It occurs in maritime forests and wet flatlands, where it sometimes is the primary canopy species.
Native To: The Coastal Plain from South Carolina to Florida, west to Louisiana
Comments: Slash Pine is planted widely for timber production in and out of its natural range and habitat. All pines are intolerant of shade and need sun to establish and thrive.
 Photo: David Stephens, Bugwood.org |
- |  Photo: Chris Evans, Bugwood.org |
| - | ||
 Photo: David McManus |
||
Characteristics: Spruce Pine is an evergreen tree with a medium-fine texture and a medium to fast growth rate. Needles are dark green, two per fascicle, spirally twisted, and two to four inches long. Cones are brown, up to 3¾ inches long, with minute prickles on the scales. They may persist two to four years on the plant. Young trees have a dense, broadly pyramidal form, becoming more open and irregular with age. Bark is dark, brownish-gray and attractive.
Landscape Uses: A dense canopy, slow early growth and attractive yellow-green foliage make Spruce Pine suitable for landscaping. Use it for a windbreak, screening or as a specimen tree. It performs best in moist, fertile soils, but it has been observed growing satisfactorily on dry sites and heavy soils. It requires full sun for best growth.
Size: 50 to 60 feet tall and 40 to 50 feet wide
Zones: 8a, 8b
Habitat: Moist alluvial flood plains or hammocks with mixed hardwoods in the lower Coastal Plain
Native To: South Carolina to northern Florida and west to Louisiana
Comments: A good wildlife food source
 Photo: Steve Sanchez |
- |  Photo: Chris Evans, Bugwood.org |
| - | - | |
 Photo: Steve Sanchez |
Characteristics: Longleaf Pine is an evergreen tree with needles approximately 10 inches long, grouped in bundles of three. They persist on the tree for two seasons. Its long needles, large cones and sparse branching pattern make it the most distinctive pine of the Coastal Plain. Young seedlings have a unique grass-like appearance, which may last two to seven years or more because the tree first uses its energy to put down a deep tap root. Once the tap root is developed, it provides the resources for rapid top growth, often exceeding three feet in a year. It is a long-lived pine, often growing for more than 300 years. It has adapted to frequent ground fires that were common in the longleaf-wiregrass ecosystem that once covered 90 million acres of the southeastern Coastal Plain.
Landscape Uses: Longleaf Pine is a canopy tree and is best used as a specimen. It provides filtered shade for other plants, like azaleas and dogwoods. It thrives in the well-drained, sandy soils of the Coastal Plain, but it will adapt to Piedmont clay. It is best planted as a seedling and is attractive in its grass-like stage.
Size: This long-lived giant may reach heights of 80 to 100 feet, with a trunk diameter of 2 to 2½ feet.
Zones: 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Well-drained, sandy, acidic soils in the Coastal Plain up to the fall line
Native To: Southeastern Virginia to Florida, west to Texas. There is a race of mountain longleaf growing on ridges from Paulding County, Georgia, to Rome, Georgia, and into the Talladega National Forest in Alabama.
 Photo: Chuck Bargeron, Bugwood.org |
- |  Photo: Dennis Girard |
| - | ||
 Photo: Ed McDowell |
||
Characteristics: White Pine is an evergreen tree having medium-fine texture and a medium-fast growth rate. It has soft, bluish-green needles two to four inches long, five per fascicle. They remain on the tree for two years. The mature bark is dark gray and deeply furrowed. Cones are three to eight inches long and 1½ inches wide, often curved.
Landscape Uses: Use White Pine for a windbreak, screening or as a specimen tree. It has a pyramidal form when young and becomes more spreading with age. It is a graceful tree. It is easy to transplant and prefers moist, fertile, well-drained soils. It is a mountain species, so it may struggle and be short-lived in the lower Piedmont and Coastal Plain. Expect it to live only 10 to 15 years when planted outside its natural range.
Size: 50 to 60 feet tall and 30 to 40 feet wide
Zones: 6b, 7a, 7b
Habitat: Variable, from dry, rocky ridges to wet, poorly-drained areas
Native To: Newfoundland to Manitoba, south to Illinois and Iowa and southeast to Georgia
 CE.jpg) Photo: Chris Evans, Bugwood.org |
- |  Photo: Chris Evans, Bugwood.org |
| - | ||
 CE.jpg) Photo: Chris Evans, Bugwood.org |
 Photo: Gary Wade |
|
| - | ||
 Photo: Gary Wade |
||
Characteristics: Loblolly Pine is an evergreen tree with medium texture and a fast growth rate. Form is upright, broad and oval with irregular horizontal branching. Needles are sometimes twisted, six to 10 inches long, in fascicles of two or three. They persist on the tree for up to four years. Cones are three to six inches long, in clusters of three to five. There are sharp spines on the tips of the cone scales. It is one of the most widespread and valuable pines of the southeast. In Georgia, it comprises most of the timber harvested in the Piedmont.
Landscape Uses: Use Loblolly as a specimen tree or for screening. It provides lightly-filtered shade, so other plants will grow beneath it. Plant it in full sun on well-drained soils. It tolerates poor sites.
Size: 80 to 100 feet tall with a spread of 20 to 30 feet
Zones: 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: River bottoms, abandoned farmland. This is a pioneer species.
Native To: Southern New Jersey to Florida, west to eastern Texas and Oklahoma
 Photo: Gary Wade |
- |  Photo: Ed McDowell |
| - | ||
 Photo: Hugh & Carol Nourse |
 Photo: Gary Wade |
|
| - | ||
 Photo: Gary Wade |
||
Characteristics: Virginia Pine is a medium-size tree with medium texture and rapid growth rate. It is somewhat scrubby in appearance because of numerous branches that may extend to the ground. Its evergreen needles, arranged two per fascicle, are two to three inches long and persist for three to four seasons. Virginia Pine is easily confused with Shortleaf Pine, but it can be distinguished by its twisted needles. The cones are up to three inches long and approximately one inch wide, grouped in clusters of four. The cone scales have sharp points.
Landscape Uses: Virginia Pine is frequently used for screening or windbreaks. It also has been widely cultivated in the southeast for Christmas trees because of its dense branching habit, fast growth and soil adaptability. Like other pines, it needs full sun for best growth.
Size: 40 to 70 feet tall
Zones: 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a
Habitat: A wide range of sites, including well-drained upland slopes, heavy clays and dry, rocky ridges
Native To: New York, southwest through the Appalachians and the Ohio valley, to central Alabama and east to Georgia.
 Photo: Gary Wade |
- |  Photo: Gary Wade |
| - | ||
 Photo: Gary Wade |
||
Characteristics: Sycamore is a deciduous tree with coarse texture and a rapid growth rate. Its most striking characteristic is the exfoliating, dark brown to gray bark, which flakes off to expose a white inner bark.
Landscape Uses: Use Sycamore as a shade or large specimen tree. It prefers deep, moist, fertile soils. It transplants easily and is moderately drought tolerant. It suffers from some disease and insect problems and is always dropping leaves and branches. Still, it is a rapid grower and a widely-used shade tree.
Size: 80 to 100 feet tall with a spread of 40 to 50 feet
Zones: 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Wet soils along stream banks, on flood plains and at edges of lakes and swamps
Native To: Maine to Ontario and Minnesota, south to Florida and west to Texas
Comments: In natural areas, especially along streams, it is an impressive landscape plant with its white bark defining Piedmont streams.
 Photo: Gary Wade |
- |  Photo: Gary Wade |
| - | ||
 Photo: Gary Wade |
 Photo: Gary Wade |
|
The genus Quercus is divided into two groups, or subgenera. White oaks are in subgenus Leucobalanus. They have leaves lacking bristles on their lobes or leaf apexes, and their acorns require one growing season to mature. Red Oaks are in the subgenus Erythrobalanus. This group has leaves with bristles at the tips of the lobes and the leaf apexes. The acorns require two growing seasons (biennial) to mature. These are just two of the most obvious differences in these two sub-genera.
Characteristics: White Oak is a deciduous tree with medium-coarse texture and a slow to medium growth rate. Form is oval to upright, rounded, with wide-spreading branches. Foliage is blue-green in summer, turning wine-red in fall.
Landscape Uses: White Oak is a beautiful, stately shade tree. It does best when planted in moist, acid, well-drained soils and full sun. It is best planted as a young tree. Avoid root damage or soil compaction on established trees. There are some minor disease and insect problems, but they are not life-threatening.
Size: 60 to 100 feet tall with a spread of 40 to 60 feet
Zones: 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Moist, well-drained uplands and rich, moist slopes
Native To: Maine to Minnesota, south to Florida, west to Texas
Comments: Probably the most common oak tree in north Georgia, but less common in south Georgia.
 Photo: Gary Wade |
- |  Photo: Gary Wade |
| - | ||
 Photo: Gary Wade |
||
Characteristics: Scarlet Oak is a deciduous tree having medium texture and medium to fast growth rate. It is pyramidal to rounded in form. Foliage is glossy green in summer and brilliant scarlet-red in fall.
Landscape Uses: Use Scarlet Oak as a shade or specimen tree, especially on dry sites and ridge tops. It is difficult to transplant from the wild, so it is best to plant a container-grown tree. It prefers well-drained soils and full sun. It has good drought tolerance once established.
Size: 60 to 80 feet tall with a spread of 50 to 60 feet
Zones: 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a
Habitat: Poor, dry uplands and slopes
Native To: Maine to Minnesota, south to Florida, west to Missouri
Comments: Acorns are an important wildlife food. This tree often survives forest fires.
 Photo: Gary Wade |
- |  Photo: Gary Wade |
| - | ||
 Photo: Gary Wade |
||
Characteristics: Southern Red Oak is a deciduous, fast-growing tree with a short trunk and a rounded crown. Leaves have a variable lobe pattern with three to five bristle-tipped lobes; the upper leaf surface is shiny green and the lower leaf surface is pubescent and yellow-gray. Bark is dark brown to black, thick, and deeply fissured, becoming ridged and rough near the base. The inner bark is orange.
Landscape Uses: Use Southern Red Oak as a shade or specimen tree. It grows well on dry sites and is fairly long-lived.
Size: 80+ feet wide and 50+ feet tall.
Zones: 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Dry upland sites with sandy or clay loam soils
Native To: New Jersey to Florida, west to Missouri and Texas
Comments: This oak is also called Spanish Oak because of an association with early Spanish settlements. It has good fire tolerance.
 Photo: Gary Wade |
- |  Photo: Gary Wade |
| - | ||
 Photo: Gary Wade |
- |  Photo: Gary Wade |
Characteristics: Laurel Oak is evergreen in zone 8b and semi-evergreen in zones 8a and 7b, where it holds its leaves the entire winter, then drops the oldest leaves at bud break. Growth form is spreading with medium-fine texture. Growth rate is moderately slow. It develops a broad crown with horizontal branching at maturity.
Landscape Uses: Use Laurel Oak as a shade or street tree. It prefers well-drained, sandy, loose soils and needs adequate moisture during dry weather. It is pest free.
Size: 60 to 80 feet tall with an equal spread
Zones: 7b, 8a, 8b (deciduous but hardy in 7a)
Habitat: Upland sites on well-drained sandy soils, on streambanks and occasionally in mixed woods
Native To: The Coastal Plain and Piedmont from southern New Jersey to Florida, west to Texas and southeast Arkansas
Comments: Laurel Oak should be used more in landscapes. Several cultivars are available.
 Photo: Gary Wade |
- |  Photo: Gary Wade |
| - | ||
 Photo: Steve Sanchez |
 CE.jpg) Photo: Chris Evans, Bugwood.org |
|
Characteristics: Swamp Chestnut Oak is a deciduous tree with a compact, rounded crown and a medium growth rate. It has chestnut-like foliage with rounded teeth along the margins. Leaves are dark green above and grayish-green with a dense, felt-like pubescence below. Its bark resembles that of White Oak, with light gray, rough, flaky ridges. It produces large acorns, 1 to 1½ inches in diameter. Fall color is dull red to maroon.
Landscape Uses: Swamp Chestnut Oak is used as a specimen or shade tree.
Size: 50 to 100 feet tall and about half as wide
Zones: 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Bottomlands and flood plains of streams in the Piedmont and Coastal Plain
Native To: New Jersey to Indiana, south to Florida and west to Texas
Comments: The abundant acorn production may be a problem in public areas.
 Photo: Gary Wade |
- |  Photo: Gary Wade |
| - | ||
 Photo: Gary Wade |
||
Characteristics: Water Oak is a fast-growing tree with a rounded crown. Leaves are alternate, obovate, often with a three-lobed apex. The leaves are variable in size and shape, especially when young. Foliage persists late into fall and winter, especially during mild winters, making the tree semi-evergreen. It is considered by many to be a short-lived “weed tree” on upland sites and is a vigorous early succession tree in Zones 7 to 9.
Landscape Uses: Water Oak transplants easily and is tolerant of a wide variety of soils and site conditions. It does well in full sun. The wood is weaker than that of most oak trees and is subject to limb breakage during ice or wind storms. It also tends to retain numerous dead branches within its canopy.
Size: 50 to 80 feet tall and about half as wide
Zones: 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Along streams throughout the southeast from the Coastal Plain to the foothills of mountains
Native To: Southern New Jersey to Florida, west to eastern Texas and northward from the Mississippi valley to southeastern Missouri.
 Photo: Gary Wade |
- |  Photo: Gary Wade |
| -- | ||
 Photo: Gary Wade |
 Photo: Gary Wade |
|
Characteristics: Willow Oak is a deciduous tree with medium-fine texture and a medium growth rate. It has a handsome pyramidal form in youth, which becomes rounded to oval in maturity. The leaves are narrowly oblong or lanceolate, light green and shiny above and pale green below. Young bark is dark gray and smooth, while mature bark has deep furrows and rough ridges. Inner bark is pink.
Landscape Uses: Willow Oak can be used as a shade or specimen tree. It prefers moist, fertile soils but tolerates adverse sites relatively well. It has a shallow root system that will heave concrete, so avoid using it as a street tree.
Size: 40 to 60 feet tall with a spread of 30 to 40 feet
Zones: 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Moist alluvial soils along rivers and streams, lowlands, flood plains and rich uplands
Native To: New York to Florida, west to Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas
Comment: Spider mites are a problem in south Georgia.
- Photo: Gary Wade |
||
| - | ||
 Photo: Gary Wade |
- |  Photo: Ed McDowell |
Characteristics: Chestnut Oak, also called Rock Oak or Rock Chestnut Oak, is a deciduous tree with medium-coarse texture and a medium growth rate. Form is irregular and open. Foliage is lustrous dark green above and lighter green underneath. Fall color ranges from yellow to orange-yellow. Bark is gray and develops deep V-shaped ridges with age.
Landscape Uses: Use Chestnut Oak as a shade or specimen tree. It prefers well-drained soils and full sun and has excellent drought tolerance once established. Pests are not a problem.
Size: 60 to 70 feet tall with a spread of 50 to 60 feet
Zones: 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Rocky, dry, upland soils. It also occurs occasionally on well-drained lowland sites.
Native To: Maine to Michigan, south to Georgia and west to Louisiana
Comments: Deserving of greater landscape use.
 Photo: Chris Evans, Bugwood.org |
- |  Photo: Gary Wade |
| - | ||
 Photo: Gary Wade |
Characteristics: Northern Red Oak is a deciduous tree with medium texture and a medium to fast growth rate. It develops a rounded crown with age. Leaves are alternate, oval or obovate, up to 8½ inches long and six inches wide, with seven to 11 lobes. They are lustrous green above and yellow-green below. Fall color is usually yellow-brown but may be russet-red.
Landscape Uses: Northern Red Oak is used as a large specimen shade tree. It transplants readily because of a negligible taproot. It needs acidic, sandy loam, well-drained soils and full sun for best development. Northern Red Oak tolerates dry conditions and urban sites.
Size: 60 to 75 feet tall with a spread of 40 to 50 feet
Zones: 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a
Habitat: Widely adapted to a variety of sites, from rocky bluffs to water’s edge
Native To: Nova Scotia to Minnesota, south to North Georgia and west to Oklahoma
Comments: A source of wildlife food, it starts fruiting around 25 years of age.
 Photo: Gary Wade |
- |  Photo: Gary Wade |
| - | - | |
 Photo: Gary Wade |
 Photo: Gary Wade |
Characteristics: Shumard Oak is one of the largest of the southern red oaks. It develops a round, open crown, a buttressed trunk and a shallow root system. Its leaves are dark, shiny green above and dull green beneath, with pubescent woolly hairs at the leaf axils.
Landscapes Uses: Shumard Oak is used as a fast-growing shade or specimen tree. It is easily transplanted as a container-grown tree or balled-in-burlap tree.
Size: 80 to 100 feet tall and 60 to 70 feet wide
Zones: 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Well-drained soils along rivers and streams
Native To: Southern Michigan to Kansas, south to North Carolina and Florida, and west to Texas
Comments: Its distribution seems to skip the northeastern section of Georgia (the Blue Ridge Province).
 Photo: Gary Wade |
- |  Photo: Gary Wade |
| - | ||
 Photo: Gary Wade |
 Photo: Gary Wade |
|
Characteristics: Post Oak is a medium-size tree with stout, spreading branches and a dense, rounded crown. Leaves are lustrous, dark green, rough on the upper surface and grayish-brown underneath. Bark is gray with shallow fissures and scaly ridges. Foliage turns golden-brown in fall.
Landscape Uses: Post Oak is not usually planted as a landscape tree, but it would be a good choice for dry reclamation sites.
Size: 40 to 50 feet tall by 40 feet wide
Zones: 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Poor, dry upland clay and sandy soils. In the natural landscape, it is a ridge tree.
Native To: Southern Massachusetts to Florida, west to Iowa and Texas
Comments: As a member of the White Oak sub-genus, it produces acorns every year and is a good food source for wildlife.
 Photo: Ed McDowell |
- |  Photo: Paul Wray, Bugwood.org |
| - | ||
 Photo: Ed McDowell |
||
Characteristics: Live Oak is an evergreen tree with medium-fine texture and a slow growth rate. It has a broad-spreading form with massive horizontal branches. It is a long-lived tree and a haven for resurrection fern and Spanish moss. The bark on older trees is almost black, develops a blocky appearance, and looks like alligator hide. Leaves are lustrous, dark green above and light green below. Old leaves drop in the spring as new leaves emerge.
Landscape Uses: Use Live Oak as a specimen tree in large spaces. Its evergreen foliage does not allow much sunlight beneath the canopy. It prefers sandy, moist, limestone soils and full sun for best development. It tends to grow poorly in Piedmont clays.
Size: 40 to 80 feet tall and 60 to 100 feet wide
Zones: 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Sandy, alkaline soils, including coastal dunes and ridges, near marshes and inland hammocks in the lower Coastal Plain. Also commonly found up to 100 miles inland.
Native To: Virginia to Florida, west to Oklahoma and Texas
Comments: Live Oak is the state tree of Georgia
 Photo: Ed McDowell |
- |  Photo: Ed McDowell |
| - | ||
 Photo: Gary Wade |
||
Characteristics: The state tree of South Carolina, Palmetto Palm, is also called Cabbage Palm. It is a fixture along coastal areas as well as inland sites south of the fall line in Georgia and throughout Florida. In terms of toughness, it is often the tree still standing after hurricanes. Leaves are two to three feet across, blue-green, palmate in shape, with a large notch in the middle. Thread-like strands of fiber hang off each leaf. In the wild, old leaf-stems, called boots, remain on the trunk in a criss-cross pattern, but they are often removed from trees in cultivated landscapes to give the trunk a smooth appearance.
Landscape Uses: Palmetto palm is sometimes used as a street tree, but it is used more often as a single specimen or in groupings in landscapes. A handsome and uniform grower, it lends a tropical look to the landscape. It is often planted at angles for added visual interest. Palmetto palm is very tolerant of salt spray, flooding and wind. Transplanting is most successful when done during the warm summer months.
Size: 30 to 70 feet tall with a canopy width of 10 to 15 feet
Zones: 7b (coastal areas), 8a, 8b
Habitat: Inland hammocks to coastal dunes
Native To: Southeastern coast from southern North Carolina to the northern panhandle of Florida. North of Florida, the native range of this palm is restricted to coastal areas that are subject to salt spray and storms. It is also native to inland areas of the Florida peninsula as well as to the Bahamas.
 Photo: Gary Wade |
- |  Photo: Gary Wade |
| - | ||
 Photo: Gary Wade |
||
| - | ||
 Photo: Gary Wade |
 Photo: Gary Wade |
|
Characteristics: Bald Cypress is a deciduous tree with medium-fine texture and a medium to fast growth rate. Form is pyramidal when young (sometimes narrow) and becomes broader with age. In nature, older trees are flat-topped with few lower branches, which is probably due to competition for light. Its bark is reddish-brown, fibrous and attractive. Bald Cypress produces “knees” (vertical root extensions) in swamps but not when grown in upland sites.
Landscape Uses: Plant Bald Cypress as a specimen tree. It does well in the average home landscape, displaying good drought tolerance and adaptability to sandy or clay soils as well as wet and dry sites. Uniform shape, lacy fernlike foliage, pest resistance and russet-red fall color are some of this tree’s landscaping merits. It needs full sun and plenty of room. Bald Cypress grows too large for the average residential landscape.
Size: 60 to 100 feet tall with a spread of 40 to 50 feet
Zones: 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Wet, swampy soils along riverbanks and flood plains, and in other areas where water collects
Native To: Delaware to Florida, west to southern Illinois, Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas
 Photo: Gary Wade |
- |  Photo: Gary Wade |
| - | ||
 Photo: Gary Wade |
||
| - | ||
 Photo: Chris Evans, Bugwood.org |
 Photo: Gary Wade |
|
Characteristics: Eastern Hemlock is an evergreen tree, having a fine texture and a medium growth rate. It has a graceful pyramidal growth form. Leaves (needles) are short, ½ to ⅔ inch long, lustrous, dark green above with two white bands beneath. They are arranged along the stems in two planes. Bark is a cinnamon-red color and becomes furrowed with age.
Landscape Uses: Eastern Hemlock is used as a specimen or screening tree and for a windbreak. It is fairly easy to transplant and prefers moist, well-drained, acid soils and partial shade. Afternoon shade and irrigation during periods of limited rainfall are required to grow the plant successfully in the lower Piedmont.
Size: 50 to 60 feet tall and with a spread of 30 to 40 feet
Zones: 6b, 7a, 7b
Habitat: Moist coves, hardwood forests and rocky bluffs
Native To: Nova Scotia to Minnesota, south along the mountains to Alabama and Georgia
Comments: It is subject to several pests, including the woolly adelgid, which has recently invaded the north Georgia mountains.
 Photo: Gary Wade |
- |  Photo: Gary Wade |
| - | ||
 Photo: Gary Wade |
 Photo: Gary Wade |
|
Bulletin 987/May, 2008
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension
Return to Native Plants for Georgia, main page
